In a further escalation of the conflict in South Ossetia, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Saturday declared martial law in Georgia, dpa reported.
Saakashvili made the announcement after a decision taken at a meeting of the country's national security council in Tbilisi.
Further details were not immediately available in a development as meanwhile fighting was continuing in the breakaway region of South Ossetia, where authorities have reported some 1,600 deaths so far.